Toxic
by comicbookfan23
Summary: AU - Season 8 - 3/13 - Oliver Queen is poisoned at a charity fundraiser and Clark races around the world to find a cure. Also we learn of Ollie's backstory into becoming the Green Arrow! Expect M/M SLASH for those who haven't read the first two episodes!
1. The Cast

**Author's Note: **Please understand readers that I'm rewriting the entire 8th season in slash with Clark Kent and Oliver Queen as the couple. These aren't individual episodes, this is an entire season!!! I'm only saying this because I had a review stating that I should've written SLASH in the summary. Well you would've realized that it was SLASH if you'd bothered to read the two previous episodes!!!

Thanks for your understanding and hope you enjoy reading these episodes as I enjoy writing them!!! Ciao for now!

**The Cast**

Tom Welling – Clark Kent

Allison Mack – Chloe Sullivan

Erica Durance – Lois Lane

Cassidy Freeman – Tess Mercer

Justin Hartley – Oliver Queen/Green Arrow

Sam Witwer – Davis Bloome

**Supporting Cast**

Ron Selmour - Marcos

Andrea Lai - Megan

Jon Fleming - Nicholas Cain

* * *


	2. Ollie's Poisoned!

**Rainforest Preservation Foundation, Metropolis**

The place that's hosting the fundraiser's brimming with life, filled with flashing lights, music, drinks and half-naked waiters while it's decorated with all sorts of flora and fauna as Clark and Chloe find out when standing at the bar. Clark's in his black suit with a blue shirt and a stripy tie while Chloe's wearing a lustrous white, strapless evening dress with a exuberant-coloured necklace, eyeing the gorgeous waiters

Taking the glass of wine from one of the waiters Chloe smiles at Clark after they both take a gander at their server attending them, "Well it turns out that global warming just another excuse to take your clothes off."

Clark, who blushes slightly when the waiter winks at him before attending to the other guests, replies, "I know what it looks like but Ollie's claimed that he's raised a ton of money for this thing."

Chloe catches that wink and makes a face, "Yeah. 500 bucks a plate, I bet." She then takes a swig of her drink, "I'm just glad you're dating the guy."

They then both start to mingle with the other guests Chloe slightly ahead while Clark fixes his press card clipped to his chest pocket. He looks up and manages to dodge an oncoming waitress who's holding a plate of food just in time before the worst could've happened. He smiles at her and apologizes but reckons she can barely hear him what with the music blaring in the background.

"Although I am enjoying the one-on-one time, I'm quite surprised that Lois actually unattached you from her hip," she turned back to say before turning back round, a slight blush showing at what she just said.

"What do you mean? Lois and I aren't always together."

Chloe stops and rolls her eyes, "Clark, you see more of Lois than I see Jimmy and don't forget we're engaged."

His eyebrows creasing Clark spins on his heels to face his blonde best friend, "What are you trying to say Chloe?"

She stares back at him, thinking of a way to explain it but finds that she'll just make a fool of herself and just smiles again, "Never mind…I guess I just thought I would be the one cycling your typos." Saying this brings her back to the days she used to work for the Daily Planet before getting fired by Lex.

Smirking at her comment Clark leans forward as though he's about to tell her a secret, "Lois doesn't circle typos she underlines them two or three times."

This makes Chloe show off her big smile before taking another sip of her drink which she thinks tastes really nice and she's not much of a drinker to be honest with herself.

"And she had to skip anyways," Clark continues, his voice a little disappointed at the fact that she could be making her fool of herself and he'd be there to joke sarcastically at her like they always do, "In classic Lois fashion she's already on Tess' bad side."

"Tess," Chloe exhales loudly, that name chilling her to the bone like Lex Luthor, "That's assuming that the "Luthor wannabe" has a good side." They carry on walking further into the middle of the room, dodging dancers and watching out for their drinks.

"I know she's a die-hard Lex supporter but up to this point she's been civil."

"Ah-hah." Chloe then spins round, "And seeing as she's definitely not your type, she must've swayed you some other way?" She asked with a shake of her head and a cocked eyebrow.

Clark just gives her his cute smile, "It doesn't change the fact that Lex knows my secret. If she _is _following in Lex's footsteps then she may not be far behind."

"You're right. And if Lex chose her to carry on his legacy she must be handled with extreme caution."

Chloe takes another sip of her drink, Clark watching her cautiously as he knows as well as she does that she doesn't like to drink much. He notices that something's caught her eye, her look staring right behind him as a commotion's stirring at the entrance to the room. It's Ollie, dressed in a lustrous black and white tux, complete with a black bow-tie, entering the scene with a younger man, probably round Clark's age, as the paparazzi gather round to take pictures, the room erupting with bright flashes from their cameras. As they continue to take pictures Chloe's dumbfounded at the fact that Clark's not at all angry that Oliver came here with someone else instead of him and they're dating for goodness sake! Clark, who's busy ogling with his beautiful eye at his man in that lustrous tux, doesn't notice the look that Chloe's giving him right now.

"Clark? Do you mind telling me what Oliver's doing coming here with another man who's clearly not you?" Her voice's stern, like she's about to explode if he doesn't come up with a good enough answer.

Watching as the young man shakes Ollie's hand and then disappears into the crowd, leaving the blonde millionaire to the press, Clark catches his lover waving to him before he waves back, returning to Chloe's attention, "Oh, he's Nicholas Cain."

He waits for her to understand who he's talking about but it's clear that she doesn't, those eyebrows cocking up again in confusion.

"Nicholas Cain, the son of Philip Cain. The guy who owns several oil wells across the globe and happens to be a good friend of Ollie's."

"Oh yeah, friend as in me and you or as in you and Ollie in the distant past?" She asked suspiciously, her hand on her hip while the others' spinning the glass, the liquid inside gently swaying around. _Chloe and her suspicions_.

"Friend as in _you_ and _me_ Chloe and besides, he knows what I'm capable of so I know he won't try anything behind my back," Clark reassures as he and Chloe make their way over to Ollie, who's just drinking a glass of champagne offered to him by one of the waiters. Downing it in one go he tries to place it back on one of the trays another waiter's holding but something triggers him to stumble a bit, knocking into him and causing the waiter to drop the tray, smashing all the glasses.

Chloe eyes the blonde millionaire, "Looks like the party started in the limo," she said, knowing full well that the guy likes to party before drinking down the last of her drink.

Clark eyes his lover suspiciously, "No…he wouldn't show up drunk."

With whatever effects are occurring within Ollie and the continuing of the flashing cameras the blonde stud blinks his eyes to clear his blurry vision but it doesn't seem to be working. He loosens his bow-tie a little to let his hot body breathe before stumbling onto an oncoming guest and falling to the floor.

"Excuse me…excuse me," Clark brushes past the paparazzi who continue to shoot Ollie while he staggering on the floor, helping him to his feet and looking at him to see if he's alright.

"Alright back off, back off!" Chloe shouted at the cameramen as Ollie steadies himself in Clark's arms, "I'm alright, I'm okay Clark." He said with that handsome smile but this doesn't hinder Clark's anxiety.

"I know you're not drunk. Come on I'll take you to the hospital," Clark assures, pulling Ollie towards the door but is stopped by him, "No Clark, no hospitals," Ollie manages to gasp, keeping his grip firm on his lover's arms.

"Ollie, what's happening to you?" Clark asks, his face full of worry, his hand touching Ollie's cheek to find that it's burning hot. "Oh God Ollie, you're burning up. You need medical assistance, now!"

Ollie takes several deep breaths before uttering, "I've been poisoned Clark. I have twelve hours to live."

Clark's eyes widen with fear as those words left his boyfriend's lips, looking to Chloe for answers but she just stares back, fear also evident on her face.


	3. Davis Helps Out & Lois' New Assignment

**The Isis Foundation, Metropolis**

Struggling to get the key into the door with the constant feeling of dread hanging over her Chloe finally opens it, hurrying inside to turn on the lights for them to see. Following behind Clark has Ollie's arm around his shoulder as he helps him into the room.

"Chloe! He's getting worse!" Clark alerts, helping Ollie to lie down on the recliner that Chloe's just pulled out, "If it's poison, we need to take him to the hospital!" He kneels down beside his lover and caresses his burning face with his hand, worry written all over his face.

"Davis is on his way," Chloe informs, walking round the recliner to stand opposite Clark, who's dreading the fact that the paramedic has an obvious crush on him and will make this matter _uncomfortable _to say the least.

"He needs a doctor Chloe."

Taking his hand and moving away from Oliver's hearing range Chloe takes him into the next room, "Clark, if Oliver wants to avoid all hospitals, I think he has a pretty good reason for it."

Clark's face grows a little angrier, his voice a little louder, "I'm not going to stand here and watch my boyfriend die!" He points to the groaning blonde who lies with his eyes closed, his skin starting to sweat.

"Clark, do you think this is easy for me? I know Oliver too, I've worked side-by-side with him. And I know how much he means to you but when he tells us to do something, it's always for a good reason," Chloe tries to reassure her best friend but it seems that he's having none of it yet what do you expect?

"But this time it's different. His life is at stake!" Chloe can see that Clark's fighting back the tears as he looks back to him to see that he's moved on his side, his back towards him.

"Clark, if you were on that couch, I would do whatever you asked. Down to the letter," she stops to take a breather before continuing, "I wouldn't hesitate. Now trust him."

After what seems like hours of silence Clark gently nods and says, "You're right. I'm gonna check his phone. See if he's got Nicholas Cain's number."

Just as Clark turns away to do so, Davis appears at the door, his bags in tow, looking down at the sickened blonde millionaire who stirs a little in the recliner. Rushing to his side Davis drops his bags and searches through them for the right equipment.

"Oh thank God," Chloe mumbles thankfully, joining Davis by Oliver's side.

"This looks worse than you said Chloe," Davis replies, reaching inside his coat pocket for his torch which he shines into Ollie's eyes as he opens them with his free hand.

"We think he might've been poisoned," Chloe acknowledges as Clark steps out from the other room, Ollie's phone in his hand, "Please, can you help him?"

Davis' heart drops when he sees that Clark's trying to fight back the tears that threaten to blemish the soft skin on his face as he turns back to Ollie, putting the torch back in his pocket, "Erm, his pulse's racing, he's burning up but he seems to be stabilizing. So I can set him up with a heart monitor but if things don't look better in one hour, I've gotta bring him in."

Chloe steps up to him, "I know you're risking your job to do this but you can trust us."

Looking back and forth at Chloe and Clark, Davis lets out a deep sigh and nods, "Watch him. If anything changes, call me. I'm going to get the heart monitor." Chloe concurs with several nods of her head.

"Thank you Davis," Clark expresses gratitude, his piercing blue eyes looking straight at him, "You don't know how much this means to me."

Feeling himself blush Davis thinks it wise to leave as quickly as possible before they figure him out, "Just doing my job." With that, he leaves as Chloe shuts the door behind him.

"So, has Ollie received any missed calls from Cain? Wondering where he is on such an important night?" Chloe asks, returning to Clark's side with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Nope and he's not picking up neither. I'm gonna go to the bar and see if he's still there."

"Let's hope for all our sakes that he knows something."

Before he leaves Clark places his hands on her arms, "Watch over him Chloe. Call me if anything happens," he instructs before leaning down and kissing Ollie on the forehead, feeling the hotness on his lips. Leaving Chloe on her own she can't help but feel completely useless. She could use her healing powers but the last time she used them to save Clark she fell into a short-term coma. What would happen if she used them again to the same certain extent? She didn't want to find out and now with Davis involved, it's too risky.

**The Daily Planet, Metropolis**

Exiting the elevator with a smile on her face and her newly finished report in her hand Lois, in a noticeable dark pink top which matches perfectly with her black pencil skirt and black heels, strolls assertively into Tess's office, who's busy looking through a file one of her employees' just given her before speaking out, "Latest dish with a side order of spell check; 'Grisly murders down on Hepton."

Tess looks up from the file with an annoyed look on her face, the other guy staring as well with a similar looking expression. Lois gives her a big smile and Tess gestures the man to leave them.

"Lois Lane. I haven't fired you yet?" She says with clear annoyance in her voice, looking at the smiling, intrepid reporter across from her desk.

"I guess you're too busy printing my stories," Lois replies, handing out the report to her green-eyed boss, who takes it swiftly and throws it onto her desk.

Watching her Lois notices the small snapshots of Clark's rich boyfriend, Oliver Queen, scattered across the desk and gazes at Tess suspiciously, "What's with the Oliver Queen collage?"

"I figured the news trickled down to the basement by now. You know for a renowned party boy, Queen doesn't know how to hold his liquor." Tess obviously knows that this would push a button, seeing as Queen's dating Lois' best friend.

"Unbelievable," Lois replied with a little disgust in her voice, "Metropolis may have their very own 'Jack the Ripper' and you're preoccupied on smearing a humanitarian. Do you even know Oliver Queen?" Her eyebrow cocking up at her question.

"Not like your friend Clark," Tess smirked, Lois wanting to punch it right off her smug little face, "Come on, you can't tell me you don't get a twinge of pleasure seeing someone like that take a public nose-dive?"

Yeah, Lois really wants to punch her lights out but holds it in, not wanting to risk losing her job, "Look, he's a good person and a very good friend of mine who stands up for corruption and social injustice," she points out, Tess taking this into account.

"Wow. I _was _going to give you this story but you're obviously not objective enough to cover the rest of it," Tess implies, walking over to the door and gesturing Lois to leave.

Lois spins on her heels, her hand on her hip, "Well it's not exactly a newsflash, you drink you're bound to get drunk."

"When someone leaves a club falling down drunk, the story gets better." Tess crosses her arms, her face now lightly stern, "I need someone to get to the bottom of this without having second thoughts."

Lois shakes her head and ambles her way over to the door, "Alright, I'll do it. I'm not gonna like it but I'll take this story."

"Okay," Tess replied simply, watching with a smirking eye as Lois leaves her office, a fit of worry in the pit of her stomach for what she's about to do. She hopes beyond hope that this is just another '_Ollie gets drunk and makes a fool of himself_' story and she can get this over and done with.


	4. The Origin of Green Arrow 1

**Rainforest Preservation Foundation, Metropolis**

While Chloe's looking after Oliver until Davis returns with the heart monitor, Clark's back at the foundation, looking for Nicholas Cain and some answers about Oliver's condition. Seeing that the party's still thriving after Oliver's abrupt departure, Clark makes his way into the centre of the room, dodging incoming partygoers and half-naked waiters that look ready to jump him at any moment. Phoning Nicholas' cell again he allows it to ring, and once it does, he uses his superhuman hearing to hone in on its whereabouts. Blocking out all other noises, he hears it along with the sound of an ambulance and a siren in the distance. Moving out onto the balcony he stares down and watches as someone, obviously Nicholas, is wheeled out on a stretcher into a nearby ambulance.

"What happened to him?" Clark asks the policeman once he pushes through the entrance doors, the officer turning to answer him, "Someone found him passed out in the bathroom and OD'd on something or other."

"Did he say anything?"

"He's barely breathing. He'll be lucky if he makes it to the hospital alive."

This does nothing to reassure Clark about Oliver's fate, as he follows the ambulance back to the Metropolis General Hospital to see if he can find out more.

**The Isis Foundation, Metropolis**

With the heart monitor bleeping softly in the silence of the room, Chloe sits next to Ollie, watching over him and the machine as he tosses and turns, his skin burning up.

"Come on Oliver. Whatever's inside of you, you can beat it," she said, unsure whether he hears her words or not as he continues to stir.

_His mind flashes back to his past, to a time when Oliver was shipwrecked on a somewhat deserted island, lying on his back on the shore, and spluttering out water that he'd sucked in on his way there. Turning over onto his front, Oliver crawls along until he raises his head up, noticing what's left of his yacht scattered about the beach. He's confused as he stands up, his vision a little blurry while he tries to focus on his surroundings._

Back to reality, Oliver seems to have quietened down, his heart rate stable and his breathing normal as his mind drifts back to that time in his past…

_Crawling through the undergrowth of the island's jungle, Oliver, his clothes dirty and his skin clammy with sweat, spots a slimy centipede and grabs it, wrapping it around his hand. Oliver looks at it in disgust, stomach turning at the revolting thought of eating it. "Alright here's the deal. Normally I don't eat anything with more than 99 legs on it, but I haven't eaten for days. Kind of a bummer for both of us, right?"_

_Trying to urge himself to eat it, Ollie quickly rejects the many-legged insect, "Okay, you win," before placing it back on the ground again, the insect disappearing into the undergrowth. He then hears a grunt coming from somewhere to his left, and when he crawls around and forward a little bit, he can see a plump, wild boar feeding off a leafy bush through the thicket. Crawling ever closer to it, Ollie bides his time before finding the right moment to strike. The boar's surprisingly too fast for him, as it runs off into the other direction and through the trees. Ollie stares after it in disbelief, stomach growling for attention._

_Flash forward; Ollie's now making himself a makeshift bow and arrows out of wood and stones found in his vicinity whilst the heat of the sun punishes his body. Once his weapons are made, Ollie draws himself a bull's-eye on a nearby tree and starts training to use his bow and arrows efficiently. His first attempts are obviously futile, but as the hours pass he gets better, the arrows nearer the centre, before he finally hits the mark. Now garbed in just his shorts and wearing a green hood of some kind over his head to protect him, Ollie fires another arrow with swift precision, hitting the bull's-eye again and splitting the arrow he fired before in half. He takes off his blindfold, knowing now that he's ready, before voices in the distance distract him, his instincts telling him to check it out._

_Running as fast as his legs can go, Ollie jumps over fallen logs and vaults over small crevices in the ground before gradually slowing down and lurking behind a large bush decorated with pink flowers. Moving closer, Ollie pulls back a branch, one suddenly pricking his palm but he shakes it away. Peering down the small hill, Ollie bares witness to what seems to be armed men setting up camp, but before he could watch anymore, a strange feeling of light-headedness and nausea overwhelmed him. Eventually, he collapsed on the ground caused by the effects of the flower that pricked him. Soon the world around him turned to darkness…_

Back to reality, Chloe watches over him when a faint knock at the door distracts her. Knowing that nothing's going to change in the next five minutes, Chloe lifts up her dress in order to walk over to the door. Opening it, she's surprised to find her cousin, Lois Lane, standing behind it, a concerned look on the brunette's face. "Hey, have you seen Ollie? Apparently he's boozed his way into a -- ," but she stopped when Chloe pushed the door wider to show Ollie lying on the recliner, sweating and with his shirt open.

Pushing by Chloe, Lois strips off her work jacket on her way to the chair beside Ollie, "Whoa! Who's he been parting with? Motley Crue?"

Closing the door behind her, Chloe speaks out. "Lois, it's not what you think," but Lois doesn't seem to be listening. "Find me a 24-hour market. I need a sports drink, as much Vitamin B as you can get your hands on and one dill pickle. Let's go! Tick tock!" Lois demands, ready to help Ollie out of his hangover.

Chloe just shakes her head, the expression on her face telling her that it's not what it seems. "He's not hung-over, Lois."

Lois stops, turns back to Ollie and really takes in the scene this time, noticing that he's hooked up to a heart monitor, his eyelids flickering intensely every so often.

"What's going on?"

"Clark's trying to figure it out, but we know that it's serious."

Lois looks back at Ollie again, just about hearing Chloe's voice as the shock of his condition finally hits her. "He's been poisoned."

"Oh my god," she whispers, Chloe barely hearing her as the reporter takes the seat next to Oliver. "Ollie? It's Lois," hoping against hope that he can hear her, the voice of one of his closest friends.

When he doesn't respond, she looks over her shoulder, gets up grabbing Chloe gently by the wrist, and pulls her into the next room."Come here. What is he doing here Chloe? He needs a real doctor."

"He specifically told us no hospitals," Chloe replies defensively.

"Well, I'm actually conscious, and I'm saying he needs one, for Clark's sake."

Chloe lets out a breath, "Lois, I know what it looks like, okay? But right now, Ollie needs people he can trust and this is what he wanted."

Her words getting through to her, Lois nods her head in agreement. "You're right. If he said no hospitals…" she takes a moment to pause, looking back at him. His condition remains unchanged and she walks back to him, "…then I guess we just have to take his word for it."

She takes the seat next to him again, a small smile forming on her lips at the thought of how Clark can stand Ollie's stubbornness when she hears a faint voice, coming from Oliver himself. "Mercy," he whispers.

"Ollie?" Lois asks, leaning in to hear him better, "What are you saying?"

"Mercy," he says again, this time a little louder.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Lois asks again, her voice seeming to merge with another inside his mind as it lapses back into the past…a red-haired woman with piercing green eyes calling to him as he wakes…


	5. The Origin of Green Arrow 2

**The Iris Foundation, Metropolis**

_Ollie blinks his eyes to clear his blurry vision as he looks upon the face that wakes him from his unconsciousness. Before long he suddenly realizes that his chest and abdomen are covered in leeches and struggles to get them off, "Huh! Get them off" I hate leeches!" but the green-eyed woman stops him, "No, stay down. We can't take them off yet." She then glares at the man outside, hoping that his sudden restlessness didn't catch their attention._

_Lying outstretched on a table Ollie quickly looks around the room, taking in everything for account, "What the hell happened? What is this?" Another woman catches his eye, lying unconscious near the entrance to the large tent while he notices a guard wielding an AK-47 sitting on a crate just outside._

"_You need your rest," the green-eyed woman informs, averting her gaze away from the man before introducing herself, "I'm Tess. I promised them that I could save you."_

"_With leeches?" Ollie replies huskily, his throat feeling so dry his mind begs for it to be quenched while his eyes try to focus on the woman who calls herself Tess._

_She slowly nods, "They produce a curing enzyme." She then moves herself to the other side of the table, sitting beside him, "You were poisoned by a very highly toxic plant."_

_Ollie grimaces and fidgets a little on the table, "It's not that I don't appreciate the sentiment," but Tess's voice interrupts, "I know this sounds crazy, but I'm a marine biologist. We study this stuff. Without this enzyme you'd be dead in 12 hours. A hospital would have misdiagnosed you. Pumped you full of adrenaline, and killed you instantly." Her voice's trusting and moral as a small smile breaks out, "I guess…you're lucky."_

_Ollie takes another look at the guard just in front of the tent, "And that shotgun at the door -- should I feel lucky about that too?" His eyes narrow and his voice throaty, fidgeting again to rid of the ache in his back._

_Also looking at the guard Tess looks away, gazing down at him and it's at this moment that Ollie can tell that she's frightened about something, her eyes filled with fear and a hitch in her breath as she speaks, "My friend and I…we've been kidnapped."_

_Ollie's gaze changes to worry, wondering what the hell he's gotten himself into…and how he's gonna get out of here with the two women intact._

**Metropolis General Hospital**

In the main reception area Davis' searching a nearby trolley for bottles of adrenaline for Ollie when he gets back to him and once he finds them, he collects a few and cradles them in his his arms. At this precise moment Clark enters the scene, looking for him, and soon enough spots him, "Davis…I'm looking for Nicholas Cain, the guy who came in with Oliver at the fundraiser. He was just admitted."

Davis turns round to the sound of Clark's voice and, even though his heart's beating ten times faster, he hasn't got time to deal with him, "I'm bringing Oliver in," he says, seemingly coming out of nowhere and not what Clark wants to hear as Davis brushes past him on his way down one of the corridors. Clark immediately follows him, "We just need a little more time --," he begins but Davis interrupts suddenly, an hand gently pressing against his back as though he wants him to hurry along with him, "We couldn't make out what the poison was _but_ we think that it was something that they drank in the limo on their way to the fundraiser."

Davis tears away to attend to his medical bag as Clark asks the question that suddenly pops into his head, "Nicholas' a victim too?

"_Was_ a victim." Davis replies, a large smile on his face, one that doesn't bare teeth, as his stare guides Clark to the room next to them. Inside he can see Nicholas, with a smile on his face and garbed in a hospital gown, accepting a glass of water from the middle-aged nurse who's at his bedside.

"He's fine now. We pumped him with adrenaline and his stats evened out," Davis reassures, finishing zipping up his bag.

Yet Clark isn't overly convinced, "But 10 minutes ago he was dying."

Lifting the bag onto his shoulders Davis starts to walk the other way, "Modern medicine Clark. That guy is living proof that Oliver's too sick to know what he's talking about."

Clark follows him again when they both stop to the sound of constant beeping and flashes of red light. Both turning back to Nicholas' room, they both stare in horror as his body starts to convulse and the nurse's trying everything in her power to help him. The look of sheer shock on Davis' face convinces Clark that there's something seriously wrong, hearing him shout loudly, "Code Blue!"

Dropping his bag immediately beside the door Davis reaches into his chest pocket and takes out his small torch, using it to check Nicholas' eyes, "Get a doctor!" He orders the nurse as she rushes past Clark and disappears in search of one.

"His pupils are completely dilated! His fever's through the roof!" He informs as Nicholas continues to convulse underneath him, though Clark doesn't know if he talking to him or himself.

"I need 40cc's of nitro! Now! Now!" He orders again as the doctor Davis called for a few seconds earlier rushes in, a stethoscope hanging around her neck, before spinning on her heels and heading back out to acquire the nitro.

Nicholas' grey eyes stare at Clark as he slowly stops trembling, "He's going into shock!" Davis cries again, trying everything in his power to help him but he knows it's too late to when he stops completely, his eyes stone-cold and lifeless. The heart monitor doesn't comfort them much either as it emits that awful, long beeping sound that notifies them that he's just flat-lined, both their faces staring back at Nicholas' with full-on dread…

**The Iris Foundation, Metropolis**

Ollie's still in the same condition when Lois looked up on him just a few moments ago as his flashback continues…

_Back in the tent Ollie's still lying on the table but this time he's propped himself on his elbows while Tess' fixing him up by dabbing a damp cloth over the small wounds left behind by the leeches' "sucking"._

"_You know," Ollie begins, letting out a small smile, "Not quite the scenery I pictured if I'd brought a woman to this island." Although he's trying to lighten the situation that they're in, Tess, with her piercing green eyes staring at him through her eyelashes, figures that it's _his_ way of keeping calm._

_Not trying to look at him but rather concentrating on his wounds Tess brushes away the hair that's dangling in front of her face and answers softly, "Just be glad that it worked."_

_From the look she just gave him and the apprehensive tone in her voice Ollie knows that there's something she isn't telling him, "What did they do to you?" He asks, his eyes all but staring right into Tess', a valiant tone in his voice._

_This causes Tess to look fully at Ollie, who notices her swallowing the lump that's evidently in her throat, "We…were in Fuji, doing marine research. Then this speed-boat came out of nowhere…" she replies, her head shaking a little from side-to-side, "…and attacked us."_

_Still staring into those fear-filled eyes as the not-too-distant memories start to rush back, Ollie can't help but swallow the lump that has also gotten into his throat as she persists on telling him everything that happened to her, her voice starting with a sob, "They killed everyone…they killed our guide and…three other of my classmates." Then her eyes drop down to the floor._

_Ollie turns his head, still looking at her even though she isn't looking at him, "How many are there?" He asks, concern now in his whisper._

_Her eyes back on his, she nods towards the entrance to the tent, "One at the door…and there's a guy named Marcos," she whispers, fearing that the guard might hear her, "They were on their way to Thailand when their boat was taking water so they stopped here to fix it."_

_His gaze lingering over to the unconscious woman on the floor beside the entrance, he looks back at Tess and asks softly with a hint of unease, "How's your friend?"_

_Tess faced the woman on the floor, the binds tied tightly round her wrists and lying in a foetal position, "She'll be okay," she then looks back at him, "We'll all be okay, we just have get out of here." She says, her eyes staring at him full of hope, as if he can help herself and her friend escape unscathed._

_However their talk's immediately interrupted as a black man, dressed in khaki shirt and pants, enters the tent, the guard outside following him in instantly. He strolls over to the pair on the table, stealing a quick glance at the unconscious woman as he passes._

_The man, who must obviously be Marcos, sneers at Ollie lying outstretched on the table, "So, how's our 'Golden Goose'?" Tess, immediately jumps off it and backs away just as fast, as though in fear that they might kill her for just talking with their new captive._

_Marcos lets out a small huff, "Huh, don't think we know who you are?" He asks Ollie, who just continues to stare at his captors, waiting for him to continue his monologue so he can figure out how to get himself and the girls out of here in one piece._

"_Oliver Queen." His voice's hoarse as he speaks his name._

"_No idea what you're talking about," Ollie lies, trying to at least sway them into thinking that he's not the real deal. Obviously they're a lot smarter than they look._

"_You're famous," Marcos states, "Every one knows you're that rich brat, who took off with his friends on his yacht and partied his way into a ship-wreck and luck for us, not all of you were shark bait." A sneer forming across his lips, no concern for any survivors, just the one that's important._

All right so it's now or never_, Ollie tells himself as he quickly pushes himself off the table onto his feet but Marcos pulls out a large, hunting knife and raises it to Ollie's throat as soon as he stands up, "I don't think so, pretty boy."_

_He grips Ollie's hair and pulls his head forward just enough so that the blade's barely touching his neck as Ollie winces at the tight grip of his hair. He look up at Marcos and pleads, seemingly out of breath, "Just let them go."_

_Marcos stares into Ollie's eyes with his own, big white orbs with a circle of chocolate in the middle before letting go of his hair and sheathing his weapon, "I have a different idea."_

_By this time the unconscious woman has woken up, hearing the voices that had roused her from her sleep, and looks terrifyingly at Marcos and the guard standing behind him. And then the unexpected happens...Marcos arms himself with his 9mm handgun, aims it straight at the woman's head before a shot echoes throughout the tent…_


	6. Clark Witnesses Chloe's New Ability

_As anticipated the shot instantly kills the woman, right between the eyes, and Ollie can't do anything but flinch as Tess, screaming, shouts out to her friend, "Megan!" before running to her side but obvious to the fact that she can't help her now._

_Marcos then shoved Ollie hard onto the ground next to the table and points the gun at him, talking to the other guard, "We can ransom him for millions," and then it happens again. He aims the gun at Tess this time, who instantly cowls into a ball but Ollie's now quick to react before the shot's fired and shields his body over hers, a hand gesturing toward Marcos, "No! No…you kill her, you have to kill me first." He responds, his arms up in a surrendering gesture._

"_You're not going to die for her," Marcos sneers, shaking his head whilst still pointing his gun at Ollie's bare chest._

"_I have been stuck on this godforsaken island for two years! So I figure if I die…at least I die for something." His eyes are locked on Marcos', hands still up in the air._

_There's a moment of pure silence. Then Ollie hears the sweet sound of Marcos un-cocking the hammer of his 9mm handgun and he lets out a deep breath that he doesn't know he's holding. Marcos then shoves the gun into its holster strapped to his belt, " The boat's almost done. Then we're out of here," he pronounces, walking past Ollie and Tess and leaving them alone again in the tent, the guard back to standing outside. Ollie drops his arms and begins to wonder what he's got himself into…_

Back to reality again Lois' still sitting beside Ollie, now dampening his humid forehead with a wet cloth. She's having to fight though, seeing as Ollie continues to sway his head left to right and mumbling words that she can't quite make out.

"Look at you, the noble hero. You remember the "talk" we had before you ended your relationship with Clark to go off and save the world? If you do, you'd know that this Ollie --," she then leans in lower as though he might hear her, "--this isn't saving the world, is it?" She can't help but hold back a sob, looking down at her sickly friend, "This is you holding back on your end of the deal. You know, maybe -- maybe we had it wrong." She then shakes her head, as though wondering what's she saying might not be true but shakes that off too, "Maybe both our stories end and neither of us are heroes." A lonely tear drips down her cheek, as she tries to smile but it quickly dissolves into a frown. She just can't stand seeing him like this. Helpless. Dying...

Being so caught up in her "talk" Lois doesn't notice Clark entering the room, his soothing voice occurring from the background, "Lois? How's he doing?" The understandable concern reaches her ears and she suddenly wipes away the lonely tear, hearing as he makes his way across the room to kneel by Ollie's other side. Clark cups Ollie's cheek with a hand, rubbing it gently with his thumb before leaning up and kissing him lightly on the forehead, only earning a small reaction from him.

It seems like hours but only a couple of minutes when Clark hears Chloe's voice in the background, turning him away from Ollie, "Clark, can I talk to you for a second?" Lois comforts Clark with a hand on his shoulder, nodding in Chloe's direction to say "Go, I'll watch over him" and he does. Standing up he then presses a hand on her shoulder before disappearing into the room that Chloe's waiting in.

Coming into the room Clark notices that the large table in the middle's covered with lots of books that are opened on pages revealing articles and pictures of what seems to be every pink flora in the world.

"The hospital couldn't identify the poison," Clark informs her as he takes one look at Ollie before returning back to the business of saving him.

"That's because the profile doesn't match any public database," she answers, both of them now hovering around the table, gazing down at the pictures, still wearing their formal wear from earlier that night.

Clark then gets a little frustrated, not at Chloe, just at the fact that they're getting nowhere fast and Ollie hasn't got a lot of time left, "But then how are we supposed to find an antidote to a poison that doesn't have a name?" The frustration clearly in his voice which Chloe notices.

Yet Chloe can only shrug at his question, "Name it ourselves," she answers, backing herself away from him to get to the other side of the table, "The cyanobacteria in Oliver's blood shares a similar molecular makeup to the chloroplast found in a flower of the nerium genus." She picks up a sheet and hands it over to him, "Here."

As he examines the sheet she's just passed Chloe continues to talk, "Now…there's only one species of nerium, oleander, but that doesn't _exactly _narrow things down."

"Chloe," Clark begins, not wanting to hear this when Chloe interjects, a hand out in front of her to stop him, "However, the high concentration of cardio glycoside rules out several subspecies," Her hands then return to rustling through the large amounts of papers and books that lay on the table, "Orienting us in the South Pacific." This time she finds the sheet she's looking for and hands it over to Clark, who's standing directly opposite her at the table, but finds that he's just standing there, not making a slight effort to take the sheet from her. She then sees it in those hazel eyes of his, not wonder at how amazing she is in possibly finding a cure for his sick lover and her friend, but uneasiness, perhaps _fear_?

"What?" Chloe has to ask, not liking him looking at her like that, "Why are looking at me like that?" _Her _eyes are now filling with discomfort as Clark gives her his answer, "You mean like I'm at a Met U lecture?" His brows then begin to furrow, "Chloe, you're the smartest person I know by a long shot, but since when can you trace a few chemicals from an obscure flower?" This earns her the complete furrow of the brows as he stares back at her, as though trying to decipher what's happening to his best friend since forever.

She tries to shake away his uneasiness with one of her beaming smiles as she defends herself, "It's no big deal. I'm just expanding my knowledge database."

That did not work as well. Clark leans forward, his hands firmly on the table as worry fills both his facial features and his voice, "You're getting smarter?"

Not wanting to fight Clark over this right now, she shrugs him off with a smirk before lifting up her dress and heads into the hidden room behind the bookcase, the hem of her dress dragging along the floor, "I don't have time to discuss this with you right now," her voice stern, more focused on the job at hand.

"What is all this, Chloe?" Clark asks, marvelling at all the screens as images of graphs, maps, and flora appear to flash by quicker than the second before displaying the next one.

"Thanks to Lex's obsession with toxins and viruses, Luthorcorp has the most comprehensive collection of organic material on the planet," she explains whilst studying all the screens that surround her.

By this time the images on the screen are indecipherable as they flash by faster than an millisecond. Clark wonders into the secret room and steps around the keyboard, glancing up at the flashing screens before turning to face Chloe, who seems to be do busy studying them to even notice him. It's so obvious as he looks into his best friend's eyes, reading them all as though it's second nature to her.

"You're reading all this, aren't you?" His voice's now stern yet it doesn't avert Chloe's eyes from the screen as her hand ghosts the keyboard until she finds something she's looking for and presses a key. "There it is."

Looking to the screen her eyes are fixed on Clark spins his head round to see, a pink flower on screen, "If Luthorcorp has this flower, then they have the antidote." Her fingers immediately start to tap at the keys again.

"Listen, Chloe, as much as I appreciate whatever it is you just did here, this is all because of _Brainiac_, isn't it?" Clark's voice's stern again, hating the very name he had to utter…the name that had caused him so much pain, so much grief in the past.

Chloe can't shake this away however, seeing as Clark's got it in one, "All right I'll admit…after he attacked me, my hacking skills went from analogue to digital. And whether I like it or not, I can read and process data at lighting-fast speed. Now," she states, pushing herself off the keyboard and making her way into the other room, she stops at the printer, her back towards Clark, "_I know_, that right now you are making a list in your head of all the possible ways this could be your fault, but please _don't_." Her voice's rather stern again, taking another sheet from it and turning to face Clark.

"If this is because of Brainiac, then we don't know what can happen." Clark fumes, getting angry at that sheer fact that he'd infected his friend somehow and now she's trying to control this newfound power within her.

"Exactly! No one knows." Chloe steps up to him, staring up into those eyes again, "So let's not worry about it until we have to. Clark, this is _my_ life. And for once, something good came from something horrible. I'm choosing to look at this as a gift, one that could help us save Oliver's life. You know as well as I do that I would've used my healing ability on him in a heartbeat but now with Davis involved, I can't risk it. _Which _is _why_ I'm using my smarts instead of it. So please," she places a soft hand upon his, a soft smile across her lips, "Trust me."

Afterwards she hands him the printout of that pink flower they looked upon on the screen just a few moments ago, "I think it's time to call in a favour with your new boss."

As much as he tries to deny it, he admits that Chloe's right. Now with Lois and Davis involved, they can't risk using her empathic healing ability and seeing as her newfound "gift" has its perks, Clark promises to himself that he'll keep a _watchful_ eye on her, make sure she doesn't get too "addicted" to it. Looking down at the printout, he takes a quick look at it before nodding and leaving for the Daily Planet...


	7. The Origin of Green Arrow 3

**The Daily Planet, Metropolis**

By the time Clark arrives at Tess' office, strolling in "willy-nilly" like Lois did earlier today, he finds her standing on one side of the room, working on something but he can't tell what. With her long, red hair tied into a bun and wearing a white blouse that perfectly matches her black pencil skirt and high heels, Tess turns to face him, a smile on her face, "It does bring out your eyes."

Before Clark can furrow a brow or wonder what she's talking about, she nods to it, her smile widening, "That tie."

Feeling a little awkward, like he can "sense" that she's sort of _hitting_ on him, Clark swiftly changes the subject, "Erm…I was wondering if you could help me with something," he then ponders carefully as to what to say next, "A…friend of mine has been poisoned. The doctors can't help him, but I think Luthorcorp owns the lab that makes the antidote." Does she have any idea about his relationship with Oliver Queen? Would she help him if she did? Clark doesn't need to think about that right now, all he needs is hope that she'll help him retrieve the antidote.

She spins on one heel so she facing the tall brunette, a hand on her hip, her smile dissolving back into its usual tone, "Believe me, my heart goes out to your _friend_…" she replies with such emphasis on the last word Clark wonders that she probably does know something about him and Ollie, "…but I don't have some secret stash of toxins or antidotes." She shrugs her shoulders to further confirm her answer.

However Clark's not having none of it, "There must be something you can do. Lex never abandons a project." His voice a little louder than usual.

"He doesn't, does he?" Her piercing, green eyes seem to be transfixed on his own, "I'm still catching up on the ones he's named after constellations but if this lab truly exists, I don't know about it." Her voice a little louder as well.

That's it, this is getting Clark nowhere and he didn't have time for idle chit-chat, "Look, Miss Mercer, I realize that you're my boss and that your job requires a certain level of secrecy…" he says, taking another step forward, taking out the file that Chloe had given him before he left the Isis Foundation, "…but the antidote to this plant _could_ save my friend's life."

Tess eyes the picture that he's flaunting out in front of him and suddenly recognises the flower in an instant. Hesitant at first but gradually taking it from Clark's hand, she studies the flower and then chooses to turn away. Not looking back Tess then asks him, "Who exactly is your friend?"

Clark steps up to her desk, watching her as she continues to stare at the file in her hand, "His name is Oliver Queen. He doesn't have much time to live," his voice firm again to highlight his situation but obviously having no idea that Tess _does_ know Oliver…but from a past that feels such a long time ago…one that changed her life forever and all because of that name…Oliver Queen.

Hearing that name resonating inside her head Tess gazes into space, remembering that time so vividly before blinking the memories away, her voice returning to its firm tone, "I'm not gonna stand here and lie to you, Clark. But I'm afraid I can't help you, either." At this point she turns to face him again, seeing the hope that's written on his face suddenly wash away, only to be replaced by anguish, "The lab was relocated to Campo Grande, Brazil. Even if I made a call, we'd never get the antidote here in time."

That's enough to make Clark's heart sink to the floor as his options in saving his love continue to slip through his very fingers…

**The Isis Foundation, Metropolis**

Now having opened up his shirt to reveal a sweating, taut chest, Lois begins to place two large bags of ice on it, to help cool the fever down, if only for a little while. Taking his hand into hers she silently prays for her friend before she's suddenly interrupted by someone strolling in through the entrance door. _Who is this guy?_

Davis pauses just inside the door before replying swiftly, "You must be Lois," then closing it behind him and joining her by Ollie's side.

"And you must be the one who's actually qualified to do this," Lois answers back, her gaze returning to Ollie who looks like he's getting worse by the second. His skin's getting paler and sweatier, his lips are now purple in colour, dark circles forming around his eyes and his breathing rate's kicked up a notch from the last time she checked on him.

Davis takes a glance at Ollie lying before him, feeling the awkwardness of the situation, and decides to just come out with it, a deep sigh to accompany it, "He's dying…I'm sorry."

Lois' head swirls quick so fast it surprises Davis that she hasn't got whiplash from it and grabs him fast by the wrist, but not hard to hurt, pulling him away from Ollie, "Here is what's gonna happen, dimples. You are going to reach into that handy little tackle box of yours and pull us out a miracle," her voice angry at his inability to at least try something to help, "Oliver Queen does not _die_ today. I won't let that happen, for Clark's sake."

Hearing Clark's name Davis lets out another sigh, "The best I can do is keep him alive a few minutes longer."

"Then do it." Lois retorts back, not wanting him to waste another minute as he brushes past her and immediately gets to work. He takes out his small torch and carefully opens Ollie's eyes with his thumb, checking them for any signs of dilation, Ollie's flashback occurring as soon as the torch hits them…

_Ollie's standing beside one of the glassless windows in the tent staring out into the horizon, the Sun setting overhead, when he hears Marco's guard entering through the entrance, AK-47 in both hands. Then, as soon as the guard looks away, Ollie takes the fishing hook from off the table and slips it into his pocket. Subsequently he faces Tess, who's on her knees and clutching her friend's hand, dry streaks of tears evident on her face from her sobbing. Watching her mourn at the loss of her dead friend, Ollie only wishes he could've done something to save her but Marco pulled out that gun so fast he was literally powerless to stop him._

_Tess sniffs, brushing away the strands of hair away from Megan's face as Ollie kneels beside her. She then thumbs the bracelet around Megan's left wrist, sniffing again as she replies softly, "I gave this bracelet to Megan for her birthday. She was my best friend. She was joking around when she said she'd wear it 'till the day that she…died." _

_After a new wave of emotion causes her to shred more tears, she struggles in untying Megan's bracelet when she feels a soft hand upon hers and a gentle voice upon her ears, "Okay, easy, easy. Shh. Let me help you with that." She pulls away, allowing Ollie to untie it for her, passing it once it's unfastened._

"_There you go," he whispers, his voice as soft as the wind, placing it in her hand but this just causes her to sob again as he pulls her into his arms, "Shh, shh, shh. Come here." _

_He can feel the tears upon his shoulder as she continues to cry over the loss of her best friend, who he looks down upon and utters softly, "I'm so sorry."_

_Whilst gently massaging the back of her head, Ollie grips her hair bobble that ties her hair into a short ponytail with his fingertips and pulls it off, resulting in Tess asking in a cautious voice, "What are you doing? They'll kill us."_

"_I swore that if I ever made it off this island, I'd change," Ollie utters, fingering the bobble whilst telling Tess of his intentions, "I wouldn't waste my life." They pull away from each other but still in the embrace, "That starts now."_

_Through her tear-filled eyes Tess nods in agreement, smart enough to realize what he's getting at as he stands to his feet, Tess following suit. A cry from outside alerts the guard, who leans out of the tent to catch it before turning to the prisoners, "Boat's ready, let's go," he informs, shotgun resting upon his shoulder._

_Following Tess out of the tent the guard points them in the direction of where they should be walking and, with Tess shortly in front, Ollie begins to make something out of the fishing hook and her hair bobble and careful enough so the guard doesn't suspect anything._

_As they round a huge bush, decorated with pink flowers, Marco appears upfront, an AK-47 strapped over his chest, "Hurry up and be careful. That flower's poisonous," he warns, seeing Tess so close to the bush they're just passing._

_The guard glimpses at the said flowers and this is the moment that Ollie makes his stand. Once Tess' is at a safe distance he elbows the guard square in the face before taking another shot, this time with a strong right-hand, which knocks him to the ground. At this time Marco strives to holster his AK-47 Ollie pushes Tess down, in case he starts firing, and throws his makeshift arrow (made out of a stalk of reed, the fishing hook and Tess' hair bobble) with deadly accuracy. The "arrow" soars through the air, as though in slow motion, as it pierces through one of the berries, situated on the bush beside Marco, and sticks into his arm._

_This hinders his attack on him, the shock of Ollie's attack just registering before collapsing onto his back. The effects of the berry blurs his vision, blinking to see if it might clear it but to no avail. Ollie helps Tess to her feet before running to Marco's side, taking his gun away from him._

"_You're not gonna leave me here to die."_

"_You want to live?" He asks, though he doesn't leave enough time for Marco to answer, "You crawl down to the leech pond. Make some new friends."_

_Tess kneels beside Ollie, pushing him aside to take a look at Marco, eyeing the boat keys attached to his belt. Taking one look at him she instantly unclips it and pockets it in her khaki shorts. Ollie offers his hand and helps her to her feet, a grin on his handsome features, "Are you ready to go home?"_

_Tess doesn't answer. She just nods again before allowing Ollie to pull her towards the boat and to their freedom…_

Lois glances at the heart monitor beeping beside the still-unconscious Ollie, his heart rate increasing a little at a time, "He just 106! He's on fire!" Her voice a little demanding.

Davis approaches from behind, looming over the two, "It's just like Nicholas. We need more ice and towels," he informs, looking around the place.

Lois turns and points in the direction of where they're stored, "In the back," and then Davis' gone. Afterwards she maintains in applying the damp towel against his feverish forehead, "Come on Ollie. You've gotta hold on for Clark. Come on."

Suddenly her soft words aren't enough as his body starts to convulse violently, his eyelids twitching. Holding him down Lois calls to Davis in the back, "He can't take much more of this!"

As she persists on watching him Lois hears that dreaded long beep and looks to the monitor, seeing that all the numbers have all dropped to zero and Ollie has now flat-lined. Not knowing CPR Davis thankfully makes his entrance as he asks her to move out of the way so he can better operate on Ollie.

Taking off the bags of cold ice Davis starts to pump Ollie's chest in quick succession, "Lois, I need you to breathe for me."

"Okay," she nods, positioning Ollie's face upwards so her breaths can travel down to his lungs easier. After a few more pumps Davis signals Lois by uttering a "Breathe" and she obeys, mumbling a "You're not going to like this Clark". Opening Ollie's mouth and pinning his nostrils together Lois persists in breathing into his mouth twice before pulling away, allowing Davis to start pumping again, "Come on Ollie. Stay with us. You can fight this…you're a fighter. Fight it…for Clark."

As just as that name leaves her lips a whooshing sound from outside the room (which Lois and Davis doesn't hear) and Clark enters the room, a needle in his hand which they both don't notice yet, "Clark…he's dying," Lois informs quickly, Clark noticing that she's close to crying.

Looking down at the needle in his hand Clark gestures it to Davis, "Use it," he says simply as his eyes catches Davis', whose own are questioning Clark's without using words but inevitably giving up when he realizes that Ollie's life's quickly slipping away.

Taking it from Clark's hand Davis looks at the needle before looking back at Ollie, hesitating for only a second, which feels to Clark and Lois like an hour. He then squeezes the plunger lightly to make sure that there's no air in the needle before placing his hand on Ollie's chest and sticking it straight into his heart, injecting him with the substance within. As Clark makes his way to Ollie's side Lois moves out of the way for him, standing opposite Davis as Clark takes her seat, his gaze not moving from Ollie as he waits for the moment for him to wake up so he can see those delicious, chocolate eyes he fell in love looking up at him.

And for the next few moments the room's deadly quiet; Clark brushing Ollie's hair softly back as he desperately waits for the antidote to take effect, Davis wondering what he's just injected his patient with and Lois nervously pacing and biting down on a fingernail at the thought that she might be losing a good friend this very night. It's only when they hear the slightest of gasps and see the blinking of eyes that they know that whatever Clark had given Davis has obviously worked.

Clark lets out a sigh of relief as he lightly brushes his lips against Ollie's, his hands softly cupping the blonde's face as a wide smile forms on his face whilst blinking away the wetness from his eyes before replying softly, "Welcome back."

"Clark, I don't get it." Davis questions, standing to his feet and waving the needle in his hand, "This…antidote doesn't even exist."

Clark turns his gaze away from Ollie for just a second to look up at Davis, "Queen Industries. They have a lab nearby," he answers with a nod, Davis' expression still questioning when Ollie's voice disrupts him and causes them all to glance back at the pale blond, "Mercy," he whispers so softly even Clark can barely hear him, "You have to go find Mercy."

"What?" Clark asks with a worrying tone in his voice and a furrow of his eyebrows.

"Tess Mercer. Clark please," Ollie states, his expression full of anxiety as he looks up at him, "Whoever did this to me will go after her next."

Clark stares at him with confusion, "Wait? You know Tess?" He asks, surprised at the fact that Ollie has never mentioned her in the time they've spent together and can't help but feel just a little hurt that he probably wasn't going to tell him if this "incident" had never have happened.

"There's no time, Clark." Ollie's voice a little louder even though Clark's sitting right beside him, meaning that this "talk" will have to wait until later when all this is blown over.

"She's working late. She's at the Daily Planet," he replies, looking at Lois then at Davis before he glances back at Ollie, who collapses back down on the chair, still exhausted from the effects of nearly dying a few minutes prior.

Knowing that this is his cue to go to her rescue Clark nods his head at Ollie's request before leaving him in the safety of Lois and Davis, super-speeding it to the Daily Planet once he's outside the room and away from their eyes.


	8. Clark Saves the Day! Ollie Faces Tess!

**Author's Note:** Sorry for taking so long to write this chapter. I don't know why but I had difficulty writing it, have the feeling that it doesn't feel right. Anyways, hope you enjoy and the next chapter should be with you shortly!

* * *

**Behind The Daily Planet, Metropolis**

After leaving the Planet through the back entrance Tess heads to the parking lot that's just round the corner, her high heels tapping sharply against the pavement as her car comes into view. Reaching into her coat pocket for her car keys she pulls them out once she's got them, jingling in her hand, before something stops her in her tracks. With her eyes wide and inquisitive Tess leans to the side to get a better look at what's caught her attention and finds that someone had stabbed one of her two front tyres with a large knife.

"Damn it!" She sighs when a noise takes her attention away from the stabbed tyre. Straightening up Tess looks to one side of the parking lot to see nothing but just as she's about to look the other way, someone grabs her from behind and holds a knife to her throat, its sharp point just inches away from it. Seeing the black hand holding the knife Tess knows instantly who it is. _Marcos_.

"Miss me?" His voice asks in that low, gravelly tone before pushing her hard against the building wall, his hand clenching around her throat, "You left me on that island to die. You're not an easy to track down, are ya?" He aims the knife upwards, the point just about touching her neck. "You're just the scared little girl that I remember. You haven't changed a bit."

Having herself look away while he continues to brandish that knife inches away from her neck Tess now turns to him, her look cold and not the least bit scared, "You'd be surprised."

Just at that moment Tess raises her knee sharply, kneeing him squarely between his legs and causing him to keel over. Unfortunately for her he didn't drop the knife but she follows this with a hard high-heel boot to the stomach, managing to give her some needed distance between herself and Marcos.

"Forgot to write you a postcard," Tess sneers, swinging a good right punch square on the jaw that sends him straight down to his knees, "You were one of the men in my life that taught me how to fight back," and she finishes with another right hook but Marcos anticipates this and blocks it. A hard punch to the gut and he takes her down with a solid right back-hander, watching as Tess twists in the air and lands hard onto her front, unconscious.

As he gathers his balance Clark, meanwhile, is super-speeding through the quiet backstreets of Metropolis and arrives on the scene just in time to see the guy approaching Tess with his knife. Keeping out of sight, not wanting to risk getting seen by anyone, Clark looks upwards and finds what he needs to take this guy out without rousing suspicion. As his eyes glow red two beams of intense heat discharge from them and successfully hits the beam that supports the transformer that mounted on the telephone pole just a few feet from the pair. With one side of the beam melted through, the other side swings downward in the direction of Marcos and, before he can dodge it, sends him hurtling across the parking lot, landing on top of a car for good measure.

The noise of the commotion rouses Tess from unconsciousness and, before she can spot him, Clark super-speeds out of there. Sitting upright Tess looks around her surroundings and her eyes stop at the motionless body of Marcos, who's lying on top of a car and surprisingly still breathing. The expression on her face's all shock as her mind tries to fathom on what the hell's going on around here…

**Luthor Mansion, Kansas**

The next morning Tess' sitting at the desk in Luthor's office reading something on her laptop when a newspaper's abruptly thrown on her desk, catching her undivided attention. She looks at the paper, which is open on the "Daily Dish" section, and sees a picture of Oliver Queen at the Foundation looking like he's about to vomit all over the cameraman. A bold headline's written underneath: "Billionaire Bender". She looks up and has to smile as the very person's standing right in front of her desk, with his hands in his pockets and a pissed-off look on his face.

"Really?" Oliver asks simply, glaring daggers at Tess who merely widens her conceited smile, "Whatever happened to the party boy hanging up his beer bongs so he could do good for the world?"

"Well, I'm not that guy in that article anymore." He informs her, pointing at the article in question.

"Of course you're not. You're Oliver Queen, the world-famous Samaritan. And I was his first save." Tess states, swirling on her seat and standing up, taking the empty glass with her.

She rounds the table but Oliver stands in her way, "Excuse me, erm…" he starts, gently grasping her wrist and pulling it up to see it more clearly in the Sun's light. Wrapped around it is the bracelet that she'd bought for her best friend's birthday all them years ago, "…you know you were much more than that."

Looking down at the bracelet Tess glances back up at the blonde billionaire, nodding, "I'm glad you're okay Oliver."

Oliver lets out a small huff and a small smile, not really knowing if the "Ice Queen" really meant that or not but she soon breaks the ice, "After all I need the chief of Queen Industries alive and well if Luthorcorp's going to keep its competitive edge." She declares bitterly as she makes her way over to the drinks table and pours herself a glass of water from the large, glass jug.

"Happy to help," Oliver simply replies, turning swiftly away from her and strolling over to the fireplace, admiring the room's historic features.

"This is great," he replies again, his eyes fixed on the flames of the fire, "A few pay grades up from your days studying jellyfish and protesting whaling ships, huh?"

With her back still turned on him he doesn't see the smirk forming on her lips nor the slight coldness in her eyes, "You know, you're not the first person to wonder how I arrived at the helm of a Luthor dynasty."

"What's to wonder?" Oliver answers, his back also facing hers, "You play to win." This time he turns to face her, his voice slightly louder and his arms dangling beside him, "I found out how ruthless _you_ were a long time ago."

Slightly affected by his remark Tess places a hard hand on her hip and spins on her heels to face him also, "After what you did to me, did you really expect to just sit around and eat ice cream?"

"No, you'd rather work for my greatest enemy and then when I think the knife can't twist any farther," he advances towards her before stopping just a foot away from her, seeming to tower over her thanks to his height, "You take over his entire company."

Tess smirks again with a nod, "Oh, so this is what you do when you're not writing checks and grinning for the cameras. You sit around pondering ways that I've dedicated my life to your downfall." She then shakes her head, grinning at him as though she's enjoying it, "I'm sorry to break it to you Oliver, but everything I did I did for me."

"So I guess that our past is behind us," Oliver says softly, walking away from her and heading towards the door.

"It has been since the day you said goodbye." Tess turns to the side to watch him leave, "Oh, wait." This somehow makes him stop in his tracks but not turn around to look back at her, "You never actually _did_, did you?"

He turns abruptly and steps up to her, "Is that why you called me here? Hm? Because it's on the tip of my tongue."

Then there's a brief silence. A silence in which Tess takes the time to look at Oliver with that smirk on her face you just want to slap. But he doesn't obviously. Just waits for her reply.

"No." Is her simple answer as she leans down towards the glass table in front of the fireplace and picks something up, "I called you to give you this." In her hands is a red folder, strapped closed by a single band.

"I realize that Lionel Luthor is dead and buried but, this should help you sleep at night." She hands him over the folder and he takes it, turning back around to have a look at it while she makes her way back over to her desk. Hearing the gentle clicking of her heels before she takes a seat.

Hooking the band to open the folder Oliver starts to read whatever it is that's inside and can't seem to believe what's clearly written in front of his face…


	9. Clark & Ollie Talk! Tess Handles Marcus!

**Author's Note:** Sorry for taking so damn long to write this chapter but I've had others to write as well (My Friday the 13th series, & Supernatural). Hopefully I can get this moving smoothly along with the others. I know you all begging for more "Clark and Ollie" slashy action but after their "little" arguement at the end of this chapter, I'm sorry to say that it's not going to happen for a while. Again I apologise but it's the way it goes but I do promise that there will be hot action in the next episode and it **will** be rated M for sexual content so watch out for that!

Okay, so I'm gonna let you go so you can read this chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Chow for now!

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The Isis Foundation, Metropolis

Chloe, whilst checking through her mail, opens the door to the office and shuts it behind her, looking up to just in time to see a someone's silhouette disappear in the next room. Hurrying to see if it might be a burglar Chloe pokes her head round to see the secret room doors open and Davis standing inside, his arms crossed over his chest. Somehow sensing her presence Davis jerks his head round and meets her gaze.

"I -- I thought I closed those." She utters, her pace quickening as she walks into the secret room and switches off the computer and the surrounding screens.

"I'm sorry, they were open," Davis simply replies, looking at her as though she has two heads instead of one.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe asks once she's shut down the computer.

Stepping away Davis allows his arms to dangle beside him as he ambles his way towards the round table in her main office, "Well, erm, I was checking in on Oliver. Had a close call last night…he has a pretty great crew of friends." He then shoves his hands into his pockets, looking at the untidy mess that is Chloe's desk which is full of papers of graphs and pictures of flora and fauna.

Chloe hurries to the round table, frantically picking up all the papers that are scattered all around it, "Renegade paramedic included," Chloe adds with a chuff of a laugh, picking up the papers as she followed Davis around the table.

"Looks like you did well on your SATs. I thought you said you studied journalism?" He asks, picking up a sheet that had some kind of flower on it, decorated with pink petals.

"Well, of course there was journalism, as well as a core of other classes, you know, and lectures and stuff." Chloe answered hurriedly, trying to pick up all the papers from the desk without Davis seeing them.

"Level with me Chloe, are you some kind of genius?" He has to ask when Chloe suddenly rips the piece of paper from his hand and he can see that she's uncomfortable with his questioning, "I'm embarrassing you, aren't I?"

Chloe stops with the picking up and looks up at Davis, the sound of the papers slapping against the side of her leg, "There's a reason why I like to keep the doors closed," she sighs.

"You know Chloe, there's nothing wrong with being smart." Davis answers with a dimpled smile but this look doesn't seem to faze Chloe who places her hands on her hips, "When the seating chart at your wedding starts to look more like a Euclidean algorithm than dining hall tables, you know you've got something seriously wrong." And with that said Chloe storms her way across the room to the filing cabinets and shoves all the papers she'd picked up in there, slamming the drawer a little too harshly afterwards.

Davis, with his hands now in his jacket pockets and bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet, looks down before returning his gaze to the frustrated-looking Chloe, "And the guy who sits next to you on the seating chart, what does he think of this?" He asks, his arms now crossed over his chest.

Chloe didn't answer. She just looks at the table, still bombarded with papers, before looking down at her feet.

"He doesn't know, does he?"

"Well, it's all sorta just happening which is why I would really appreciate it if we keep it to ourselves."

Davis lets out a sigh before answering, "Look, Chloe, I think that in some weird way we all have something, something inside us, that we'd like to keep under the surface. Even I do." He shrugs with his shoulders as Chloe can only crease her brow and smirk in her usual manner.

**Queen Tower, Metropolis**

After all that has happened in just one night, all Clark wants to do is to see Oliver, make sure he's okay and back to his normal self and, if Ollie's up to it, spend the night together. Just thinking about Ollie's strong, warm body lying next to his makes Clark's entire body shake, and he admits gladly that he absolutely loves it. Loves the way he feels whenever he's in Ollie's vicinity; whether they're fighting crime together, chilling out together or simply sleeping together, he feels that they truly have a chance of becoming a fully-fledged couple.

Yet, as soon as he exits the elevator to Ollie's penthouse, the sight before him begs to differ on what Clark was just thinking about just moments ago. There, sitting on one of the stools that surround the breakfast bar, sits Ollie himself, knocking back shots of whatever it is that he's drinking and still wearing the clothes he'd wore to the party, obviously not having the common decency to take a shower and dress into some clean clothes.

Ollie hears him coming out of the elevator and turns on his seat to look back at him before returning to his next shot and taking another gulp, "I hear I'm not the only one who owes you a drink. Tess Mercer's attacker was arrested last night." He then waves the glass in the air to say "cheers" before swigging it all down.

Clark makes his way over to the bar, leaning against it on one elbow, and looks straight at Ollie, "Why didn't you tell me that you knew Tess Mercer before?"

Without turning to face him Ollie rests the glass on one of the coasters, "Because it was in the past. And I wasn't particularly proud of how things turned out between the two of us."

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that she knew the person who tried to kill you." Clark replies, watching Ollie as he takes yet another gulp of his drink, suddenly concerned about how many drinks he has had before he got there.

"Yeah, well it makes perfect sense to me. The guy goes after me. He goes after her as she's the other captain of industry in town, so…"

Clark looks with concern as Ollie takes a swig of his drink, "Look, Oliver, with all that poison in your system, do you think adding more to it is such a good idea right now?" He consoles affectionately, even stepping up to him and placing a gentle hand on top of Ollie's.

His blond lover rests the glass on the bar and finally turns to face him squarely, jerking his hand away from under Clark's, "Yeah, _Clark_, why don't you stick to your milkshakes, huh? I'll know when I've had enough." He then slides a red folder, one given to him by Tess Mercer herself, over to Clark who picks it up reluctantly and opens it out. Looking at the report inside Clark glances up at Oliver, seeing such anger in those otherwise beautiful green eyes.

"Lionel Luthor killed my parents." He utters quite matter-of-factly, pouring himself yet _another_ drink.

"And you figured that out from flight records? It was a plane crash after all." Clark asks, watching as he pours the alcohol into his glass like he hasn't a care in the world. Why is his lover acting in such a manner?

"Yes, it was a plane crash, but according to that there were Luthorcorp employees on the maintenance log." He informs, pointing at the file in Clark's hands.

Clark has to think for a moment before continuing, "Do you think Lionel paid them to sabotage the plane?"

Ollie puts the glass back down, wanders closer to Clark and places a hand on his cheek, caressing it with his thumb, looking straight into his brilliant blue eyes, "Did you know about this Clark?"

Clark leans into the touch, closing his eyes, before opening them again and looking down to the floor, not wanting to answer unless it might strike a bigger argument, "You were the son Lionel never had. The guy knew everything about you, right? So don't stand there and tell me that you don't know a few of his dirty little secrets." Ollie spits out, taking his hand away and stepping slowly away from him.

"Look, Oliver, I was afraid that you'd do something that you might regret." Clark places a hand on Ollie's shoulder, squeezing it gently for added comfort but his lover shakes it away, "_Something I'll regret_, like what Clark? You thought I was going to kill him, huh?! Is that it? I wouldn't have killed him."

Now Ollie's standing as tall as Clark and his face's back to being filled with such anger, his cheeks reddening a little at every passing breath, "I survived on an deserted island for two years, Clark! If it was pouring rain, it was blustering Sun! There were mosquitoes that ate me alive! It's okay because you may have your super strength. You may be invincible, but you are not fearless, are you?" Ollie's tone has quieten down now as he continues his lecture, "You're afraid to trust your friends, even me your lover, and you're afraid to face who you're really meant to be. You're afraid of everything. Maybe you haven't been put to the test yet. I bet your island's still out there, Clark."

Ollie then lightly kisses Clark on the lips and pulls away just as fast, walking past him and stopping just short of the hallway that leads to the back of the penthouse. He turns on the spot to face Clark once again, "I'm going to stay in Star City for a couple of days, maybe a week. To straighten some things out. You can stay here if you so wish. It'll also give you some time to think about what I said. See you later, Clark." He then disappears down the hallway, leaving Clark to stand on the spot, already contemplating about what Ollie had said.

**Elsewhere in Metropolis**

Standing on the pavement in one of Metropolis' many streets, a taxi driver's loading Marcus' luggage into the trunk before climbing into the front and hearing his passenger say, "Take me to the airport."

Climbing into the back Marcus' just about to close the door when someone scratches him with something sharp. Looking at the sudden wound, Marcus gasps, "What the hell?"

This someone happens to be Tess Mercer, who leans down in order for Marcus to see who had scratched him. "You," he mutters as he starts to feel a little light-headed.

"Who do you think paid your bail? Jail's too good for you." She says with a smirk on her lips as his vision starts to blur and he can hear her voice echoing. Soon he's gasping for breath and slumps down in the back seat.

Tess then faces the taxi driver, "My friend's having a heart attack. You should take him to the hospital." She notifies, yet her voice doesn't contain any concern.

"What am I, an ambulance?" The driver scoffs, hearing the door shut behind him.

"They'll know what to do."

And with that said, the taxi driver speeds off in the direction of the nearest hospital, leaving Tess to drop the flower in her hand. She then disappears into the night without a trace, the sound of her silver Porsche with the words "No Mercy" on her license plate roaring out of sight...


End file.
